Provider Tools

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

Improving health outcomes for heart patients

In North Carolina, heart
failure is the second leading cause of preventable hospitalization and
expenditures per individual far exceed those for individuals with
diabetes or asthma. Furthermore, more than half of the hospitalizations
are thought to be avoidable -- lack of adherence to medications and diet
accounts for 41 percent of hospitalizations due to heart failure. About
3,000 individuals in CCNC are identified with heart failure. While
asthma and diabetes are more common, and the annual mean Medicaid
expenditure for individuals with heart failure is $27,000, versus $7,900
and $12,000 for people with asthma and diabetes, respectively.

Fortunately,
heart failure is a treatable condition and there are proven strategies
that can improve health outcomes: promotion of evidence-based
therapies, self management and access to a medical home. These
strategies there are very familiar to CCNC as key components of all our
disease management initiatives. In addition, networks work with
providers through care management to reduce four key, modifiable factors
leading to hospital readmissions such as: